Make This The Last Year That AIA Awards Don't Require Sustainability
By M. Walker
© Glenstone Museum water court/ Photo Iwan Baan
We ran across this great article by Lloyd Alter, called “Make this the last AIA Awards where they don't consider sustainability” and couldn’t help but share it. It reflects a sentiment that really lends some teeth to the recent resolution by the AIA for “immediate and sustained climate action,” which culminated in the adoption of the COTE Top Ten Toolkit as the AIA’s Design Excellence Framework. These sweeping moves are great in theory, but in practice many AIA chapters across the country are still scrambling to make the new Design Excellence Framework a part of daily architecture practice by their membership.
One really compelling way to encourage adoption is to require that the new framework is used for awards and homes/building tour submissions. From the article:
“The American Institute of Architects (AIA) just released their list of winners of the 2020 AIA Awards, which “celebrates the best contemporary architecture regardless of budget, size, style, or type. These stunning projects show the world the range of outstanding work architects create and highlight the many ways buildings and spaces can improve our lives.”
Last year, I suggested that these awards should be scrapped, and that they should just do the Committee for the Environment (COTE) awards, suggesting that “if a building doesn’t meet these basic and necessary criteria, it doesn’t deserve an award.” Meanwhile, the Royal Institute of British Architects is going this route, and has just announced that all entries for their awards (which include the Stirling Prize) have to be ‘environmentally sustainable’. You don’t even get considered for the shortlist if you are not. ”
The AIA should absolutely follow the example that our UK counterparts have laid out and move our own awards programs toward one that measures multiple dimensions of quality and beauty. After all, if we’re not designing projects focused on sustainable outcomes, we’re not upholding our ethical duties as the design professionals who are responsible for managing many resources and their associated carbon profiles.
Check out Lloyd’s article and let us know what you think.